At Saturday's Regional Cross Country meet in Richland, the Central Valley High School boys team demonstrated why they are in the running for a state championship this coming weekend. Spectators were treated to a blue wave as the Bears maintained their pack attack, charging through the first mile and up the hill all together.

As the team moved into the second mile, senior Logan Giese and junior Corey Hunter began to pull away, keeping their focus on the leaders. Midway through the third mile, sophomore Spencer Jensen closed the gap on his teammates, moving into second for Central Valley.

Giese turned on high gear as he came into the finishing stretch, passing Travis Thorne of Ferris to place fourth overall with a time of 15.32.3, which is 17 seconds faster than his previous time on the Richland course. Jensen followed in ninth place, second for the Bears with 15.52.2. And then the rest of the blue wave rushed over the finish line; Hunter in 11th at 15.59.6, Matt Hommel in 13th at 16.05, Colton Pegram in 15th with a 16.06.4, Briton Demars in 17th with 16.10.1, and Austin Seely in 20th with 16.15.5.

With only a 43-second gap between Giese and Seely, the Bears are a formidable big meet team. The Bears were the only team to put all seven runners in the top 20, and the team won the regional championships with a score of 52 points.

The blue wave will return to the Tri-Cities on Saturday to face off against the top teams from around the state.

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Submitted photosCentral Valley's freshman due of Brielle Crump (4) and Kayla Boyer (2) compete in the girls race at the regional cross country meet in Richland on Saturday.

Below: Logan Giese (11) leads a "blue wave" of Central Valley runners up a hill along with fellow race leaders from competing schools.

Girls finish fourthWith wet grass and rainclouds threatening, the CV girls cross country team took the starting line at the regional meet in Richland, hoping to earn a top-two team finish and a trip to the state meet.

Brielle Crump, a freshman from Liberty Lake who has led the team this season, got out to a fast start, hoping to hang with the lead pack. Senior teammates Alexandria Moore and Skye Sanders came close behind early in the race, with Sophomores Sarah White and Sydney Orr joining them.

Kayla Boyer, also a freshman, ran her signature race, coming from behind in the last mile to secure 13th place overall and first for CV with a time of 19.33.7. Boyer's time was 37 seconds faster than her last performance on the Richland course. Crump, who struggled late in the race, finished in 14th with 19.34.3. Moore ran a 19.45.6 to take 16th, and White came 20th with Sanders just behind in 21st. Sydney Orr and Rachel Casey earned 34th and 37th, respectively, to round out the Bears varsity efforts.

For the Lady Bears, owning the GSL championship was not enough to secure the top-two team finish needed for a state berth. The team finished a heartbreaking fourth, behind two teams it had beaten multiple times earlier in the season.